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Overview

The story of the beautiful relationship between a little girl and her grandfather. When she asks her grandfather how to say something in his language, Cree, he admits that his language was stolen from him when he was a boy. The little girl then sets out to help her grandfather find his language again. This sensitive, beautifully illustrated picture book explores the intergenerational impact of Canada's residential school system, which separated young Indigenous children from their families.

Product Details

About the Author

Melanie Florence is a writer of Cree and Scottish heritage based in Toronto. She was close to her grandfather as a child, a relationship that sparked her interest in writing about Indigenous themes and characters. She is the author of Missing Nimama, which won the 2016 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and is a Forest of Reading Golden Oak Finalist. Her other books include Righting Canada's Wrongs: Residential Schools and the teen novels He Who Dreams, The Missing, One Night, and Rez Runaway. For more information, visit www.melanieflorence.com.

Gabrielle Grimard has been drawing since she was young. Her passion for drawing and painting led her to pursue studies in fine arts and arts education at Concordia University. After she had her first child, she began her career as an illustrator. She moved from Montreal to Waterville, Quebec, where she now lives with her two children, several chickens and her husband, who builds wooden boats. They share an old barn as their artists' studio. For more information, visit gabriellegrimard.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 2017-07-02When Grandpa tells his granddaughter he has lost his Cree words, the 7-year-old asks for an explanation.The little girl leaves school elated that she has created her own dream catcher and anxious to share it with Grandpa, who meets her. Interested in her Cree culture, she asks if he'd tell her the Cree word for "grandfather." He tells her the truth: long ago, he lost his Cree language when he was forced to attend a residential school with other children of his village. When the two arrive home, they sit on the porch stairs together so he can answer her many questions about the way in which his first language was stolen from him and his classmates. Distressed, his granddaughter comforts him and later finds the perfect way to help. Florence's tender text soothes the harsh reality of having Native language stolen while attending one of Canada's former residential schools for Indigenous children. Grimard's equally emotive illustrations show the stark realities of the experience in symbolic images, as when a crow that embodies their words is locked in a cage, and literal ones, as in a heartbreaking picture of grieving mothers stretching their arms toward the bus that takes their children away. At the same time the soft colors and nuanced expressions enrich Florence's text. Images from the past are rendered in sepia tones, while bright blues, greens, and russets suffuse the contemporary tale. Unforgettable. (Picture book. 4-8)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

A short but extremely powerful book about the impact on the residential schools not only on the children that lived in them, but on the future generations. A young girl asks her grandfather how to say Grandfather in Cree, his native language. Unfortunately, he does not know. When he was forced to live and attend the residential schools, his language was taken from him. He very simply states how this happened and you can not help but feel his pain, both physical and emotional. His granddaughter wants to help him regain the Cree language and finds him an old Cree dictionary and they learn together. This is a very moving story. It is simple, yet powerful. This is a dark spot on Canadian History which is just beginning to be recognized and spoken about openly. An excellent book to be in every school library to share this experience and learn from it. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

Holly

More than 1 year ago

Stolen Words is the story of a young girl and the relationship between her and her Grandfather. One day when asking her Grandfather what a word meant in Cree, he admits that he doesn't remember because his language was stolen from him as a boy. She sets out on her own journey in order to help her Grandfather reclaim his language!
This was a powerful book even though it was short, you get the gist of what this story is all about. After reading a book like this one, you can't help but to think of all the Indians that was forced onto reservations and had their language stolen from them. This is a perfect book to get kids more interested about Indians and what they had to endure before and after reservations! The pictures were spot on for what the story was saying at the time and made it even more perfect for this book!
Thank You to Melanie Florence for writing a book like this that is perfect for kids to understand without being too much for them!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley!

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